THE PLACE OF PIRACY IN THE NIGERIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY?

The explosion of hiphop in Nigeria could be traced to the beginning of the millenium with the rise of the likes of Ruggedman, 2 Shotz, Freestyle, Eldee the Don, Modenine,MI,Naeto C e.t.c.
Between then and now-a relatively short space of time, one would’ve expected a gradual rise in the game or at best a slow and steady kind of climb. Contrarily, Hiphop music and culture has rapidly grown, spread and permeated almost every corner of the nation.
Hiphop music is fastly gaining heavy air play on radio and television stations, there are more Hiphop On Air Presenters and Hiphop shows on radio than has ever been experienced. This has invariably caused a heavy influx of piracy in the genre of music.
Hiphop in Nigeria has cut across all ages, gender, disposition and genres.
In the past couple of years, no fewer than multiples of tens of albums and mixtapes are released each year. More than a quarter of these make it to the mainstream thus boldening the outline of Hiphop on the music map.
Nigerian Hiphop videos recently, have been characterised by high quality, rich content screen play which has earned them heavy rotations on international Music Channels like the MTV, Channel O, Soundcity, Nigezie and the rest. Such videos have apart from making CDs move units, also won awards many of which are sponsored by internationally reknown awarding bodies.
This quite shows the level of appreciation Hiphop is receiving in Nigeria.
Furthermore, a lot of corporate organisations are getting involved, helping to elevate different parts of the culture to great heights. Several of them are stepping up to sponsor competitions. But here comes the problem of piracy in the music industry
1. We are not taking proper account of copies of album sold just like its done in the US
2. Albums are not selling like before,we now have the internet! Which means if anyone set his/her hands on a CD, he can send it to thousands of friends and they won't bother to buy it since they have it on their phone/PC. Can internet cencorship put an end to this?
2. The Alaba boys! Believe me, they are making the matter worse, They make thousands of fake CDs and sell it as original in a much cheaper price. The alaba piracy business is a big industry on its own!

Piracy has infiltrated our music and if proper care is not taken,things will get out of hand,are we just going to sitback and watch? What can we do to stop this menace totally?
SOURCE
http://realjoec.

Are you really considering doing an internet cersorship can put an end to this?..
Its a violation of internet freedom
2. Some of our so called artiste ar even benefiting from this by leaking their own songs online just to build hype around them.
3. All music lovers in 9ja don't want this to go down,how will u feel if you found out tommorow that there is no more free downloads so you have to pay for them. Am sure most of this wizkid fan won't be please about that.

Longlive Music Piracy in 9ja!

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Piracy threat in Nigeria music industry is real indeed, esp for those artists who are still trying to find their feet. Unfortunately powers that be seem not to give a damn about it.

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Aloodunayo: That makes me wonder how our mainstream artistes are makin their income with piracy at its height in d country? Everyday,we hear news of em buying houses in lekki,buying exotic cars,etc apart from record sales,how much are they collecting for shows

To be honest with you, it could be very scary for those venturing into music, talent or no talent. For every single successful star artist you see out there, there are thousands that are equally good that are still battling to come to limelight. Piracy's become one of the obstacles they've got to surmount, before they see their incomes, esp those successful.

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Aloodunayo: Meanwhile the successful artists are just sitting up there,doin nothing about it

Bros, that's the Nigerian situation. Those who have made it tend to relax. Not like they've not tried at all, but not enough yet. Besides, govt doesnt give a damn. As the artist sells his, the pirates sell theirs alongside and make their own money too. Tho if your music is not yet a hit, it may not get their attention.

Eze Promoe: Nigerian artistes aren't complaining, so the people. Nigeria is a lawless country like we all know, and putting such law wouldn't walk at all. But yet Nigerian artiste are still making money despite all these. Another thing is that as a new artiste, you don't expect your album to start selling without you brought to the limelight, which internet, radio and television is one of them. I can't see myself wasting kudi to buy music every now and then and I believe million of Nigerians are like that.[/color]

Who told you they arent complaining?
FYI,
Artiste + PoorSales = DeadCareer

Good thread. MoDs pls put diz on the frontpage

Piracy is a very real cancer in the Entertainment industry. A walk on the streets and you'll see a lot of shops selling pirated CDs and the owners of such shops smiling to the bank at the detriment of artistes.

I wonder how someone as mega-talented as Modenine is making his money. He's not getting endorsements, neither are his albums getting the commercial success I think they deserve.